The Income Tax (I-T) department has witnessed a 25.3 per cent improvement in advance tax collections in the state at the end of the second quarter this financial year. This is significant as the collection figures in Mumbai, which accounts for more than half the direct tax kitty in the country, has recorded an overall growth figure of 13-14 per cent from last year.

The collection figures this financial year (including the first and second quarter) for Andhra Pradesh stood at Rs 3,256 crore on September 15 (the last date for tax payers to pay advance tax in the second quarter). Last year, the advance tax collection stood at Rs 2,598 crore by the end of the second quarter.

Senior officials in the department said that the growth has been satisfactory, though they had expected a 30 per cent rise this financial year. The department, however did not give out the name of the sector which contributed majorly to advance tax collections this financial year. "We are yet to figure out if one particular sector contributed majorly to advance tax collections or it has been an overall increase from all sectors put together," said a senior department official.

It is yet to be ascertained if the advance tax payment under the capital gains category has contributed significantly to the high collection figures this financial year, as expected by I-T department.

Significantly, advance tax collections in the first quarter which concluded in June had recorded a 30 per cent rise. The second quarter recorded a little less advance tax collection, said officials. The advance tax collection figures are usually the highest in the last quarter, said officials.